I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket and my finger hovered over Malachi’s name. I didn’t have the strength for a lecture from Jessica and if I called Malachi, she’d know and she’d come with him. I wasn’t sure if I should leave Dezrael’s body here.I didn’t really know what else to do. I didn’t even know if there was a spell for this and a surprised smile appeared on my face when I thought about it. A spell to clean up a murder site, it was almost funny. I pressed the green button and closed my eyes.“It’s Kiran…yeah, I know.” Shoran said something else I couldn’t catch and then the background noise disappeared. “Sorry, Shoran’s mom is on a trip again.”“I’m in deep shit, James.”“What’s wrong?” James’s voice was all business now.“I need help.”I gave him the address and ended the call when he said that he was on his way. I tried to think of everything I had touched and grabbed a cloth from the kitchen counter. I started wiping the doorknob on the inside and then on the outside.Ja
James didn’t say anything as he thrust the paper bag into my arms when we reached the porch and looked up and down the street. It was dark and quiet and James walked towards his Jeep and got in.He let the Jeep roll slowly down the street in neutral as I walked to my Navigator and got in. I drove behind James as he drove in circles towards Lowell Canyon Drive. He was heading to the house and I slowed down as it started raining.We drove up the bumpy dirt road and onto the smooth driveway. My heart started pounding as I saw the strange car in front of the garage. The front door was open and James and I bumped into each other trying to get through it at the same time.The man stood near the kitchen table, his hands shook lightly and I saw the knife in his hands. Adara stood in front of him, shielding Kai in his carry cot with her body. She was in her wolf form and there was blood on her chest. She was snarling at him and he held his one hand up as if surrendering.I didn’t perceive him
I hurried back inside the house, the urge to finally hold Saga becoming unbearable. I took her from the carry cot and cradled her in my arms. She opened her eyes and I felt that familiar tug, the same dizzying, mind-altering, gravity-pulling feeling I had felt with Kai.I saw Karani in her eyes as I imprinted on my daughter. She reminded me of my mother, beautiful, warm, loving Karani. I wondered briefly if I imagined it. I looked over at Adara and smiled.“Adara.” She was blocking her emotions from me and I frowned slightly as she turned on her heel and went upstairs.James made a gun with his fingers and held it against his head. “I have no advice. Good luck is all I can say.” He gave me an encouraging smile and his finger trailed over Saga’s hair.“Thank you, James. I’ve been a bad friend.” I hadn’t asked him about his in-laws or Shoran’s progressing pregnancy and her aggressive mood swings. She had gotten them all, the crying, the cravings, and the anger towards James.“Hah!” He s
I went back to the kitchen and finished our coffee. Malachi only nodded his head as a thank you when I placed the cup on the table in front of him and sat down again. I was tired but I also felt content.“I’m only glad it’s over and…” Saga began to fuss and I placed my own cup down.“She’s probably hungry.”I made a bottle for her, testing the heat of the milk on my wrist and handed the bottle to Malachi. She started slurping greedily the moment he placed the bottle in her mouth and her eyes closed again as she drank.“Do you think that maybe Adara might be jealous?” My head jerked up as I looked at Malachi and I frowned. “Saga’s another woman’s child and you went on this crusade to save her, to save Kai too, but your ultimate goal the whole time was to save Saga first and now she’s here in your home with your wife and son.”“Dad, you of all people should know that you can’t choose between your children. Even if you didn’t physically raise Alexander, you still wouldn’t hurt him, becau
Malachi and I sat at the table and talked. I didn’t realize how the hours ticked by and we both turned towards the sliding doors when the sun started to rise. I think we both needed this alone time to talk through everything that had happened.Saga started to fuss again and Malachi just smiled as I changed her. Malachi held her and she held on to his finger with her hand, just staring up at him as I made a bottle for her. Adara walked down the stairs just as I started feeding her.The look Adara gave me spoke volumes, but also said nothing as she kept her emotions in check. Malachi watched the exchange and shook his head lightly. I’d thought about what he’d said earlier a lot.“That’s my cue. I’ll see you after work.” Malachi stood up and headed upstairs to shower and change before going back to work.Adara didn’t say anything about Malachi’s abrupt departure and she turned her back on me as I held Saga. When she was finished feeding, I placed her back in her carry cot and turned to l
I woke up four hours later as the front door slammed shut and I jumped up. Both babies were still asleep, and I went downstairs yawning as I did so. I was still tired. Adara was placing bags on the counter.“The rest is in the car.” She didn’t look at me and started unpacking the two bags she had brought in.I went out to her car and opened the boot. My breath froze in my lungs as I stared at half a baby store crammed inside. It took me six trips to unload everything and the kitchen now looked like she had bought the whole store.“Did you empty our account?” I asked her jokingly and she smiled at me. At least I got a smile from her. She walked up to me and hugged me, and my arms closed around her.“I’m sorry. You’re right, she deserves parents that love her. I never had that and if I weren’t here I’d want someone else to love Kai completely.” I hugged her tighter because this was the woman I loved.“Thank you but you’re not going anywhere.” She let go of me and turned back to her shop
The conversation between Kiran and Malachi had kept replaying itself in his head. On one side he was relieved that Kiran accepted his relationship with Jessica because she was important to him but on the other side their age difference made him feel like an asshole.Malachi lay in her bed and watched her sleep. He smiled as he looked at her. A strong surge of love spread through him, so intense that it actually frightened him. He missed her every minute they were apart. He could never grow tired of her, but did she feel it as intensely as he did?Malachi knew that Jessica loved him but what kept him awake in the early morning hours was if she loved him enough to spend the rest of her life with him, to marry him and make a life with him.“You know that’s creepy, right?” Jessica’s voice was soft and her eyes were still closed.Malachi smiled. “What is?”Her eyes opened and softened as she looked at Malachi. “Watching me sleep.”“I made you coffee.” Jessica shifted and sat up straight, t
“Hello, Malachi.” Adara’s voice was clear and she sounded happy even.“Jessica’s been vomiting the whole morning.”“Is she pregnant?” Malachi heard amusement in Adara’s voice but he ignored it.“She says it’s food poisoning.” Pregnancy was the first thing that had popped into his head when she threw up the first time.“I’ll phone her, don’t worry, Malachi.”Malachi parked his car in front of the court building and he pushed everything out of his mind and switched his phone off. He took his seat and opened his briefcase as his client joined him at the table. He breezed through the next few hours and finally got his client a settlement that he was happy with.Malachi sat in his car and switched his phone on again, surprised that Jessica hadn’t tried to contact him at all. An eerie feeling settled in his gut, a feeling he didn’t like at all. He opened his messages and started typing.Malachi: Are you okay?Jessica: Never better, stop worrying and stop frowning.Malachi laughed as he read
I raced down Lowell Canyon Drive with Malachi next to me and Carl in the backseat. I skidded around the corner and raced towards Robert’s house.“Whoa, slow down, Kiran!” Carl said from the back seat and I slowed as I got to Robert’s driveway and parked the Navigator in the street. We got out and Robert opened the door just as I wanted to open the door myself.“You brought Malachi and Carl?” He asked me and I shrugged.“Of course, the more the merrier,” Carl answered before I could say anything. He led us inside and to the two bodies in the living room.“Turn them over,” I said to Carl and he bent down next to the first one. He turned the first man over and I lifted his shirt. I instantly recognized his tattoo.“Zetas,” Malachi said as I lifted the second man’s shirt.“Robert, this was self-defense,” I said to him and he nodded as if I had asked. Robert didn’t have a mean hair on his head.“Tell me what happened,” I said as Malachi searched the first man and opened his wallet. Carl wa
Malachi watched me but made no move to meet me halfway. His face was void of emotion and I had a hard time reading his aura. I pushed harder against the mental wall and his aura appeared and his guilt showed.“Sorry, I know you wanted to discuss this but I kind of had my hands full,” he said to me and I smiled. “It’s okay,” I replied.“But you did well on your own, there’s nothing I would have done differently,” he said to me and slapped me on the back.I was about to say something more but kept quiet as our pack members started leaving the den and shook our hands. Carl and Frank stopped in front of us and I smiled. I knew Carl’s mind was working overtime already.“If it comes to it, we go with you and we kill Vincent.”Frank nodded his head. “And whoever else we need to.”“Yeah. You’re not going down for this shit, Kiran,” Carl said.“It’ll be fine. Vincent has to prove his claims and a truth seeker will know, so I doubt there’ll be a tribunal.”Carl smiled and slapped me on the bac
James and I stood outside, near the front door of the den. I had called another pack meeting so we could discuss and vote on the Mauritius situation. I had learned early on in my life that if I wanted to keep the pack’s respect, I needed to be honest with them.Robert was angry because I had denied him access to the meeting. Although we considered him family, he wasn’t a wolf. I wasn’t about to change hundreds of years of tradition just because I liked him.More cars pulled into the space in front of the den and I greeted my pack members warmly. Malachi was the last to arrive, smiling to himself as he walked towards us. ‘Only Jessica can be responsible for that smile,’ I thought to myself as Malachi grinned at me.I closed the den’s door behind me as the rest found seats. I walked to the front with James trailing behind me and hit the gavel once on the table behind me. “This meeting is now called to order.”The men settled down with low whispers as I leaned back against the table and
I was furious as I sat there behind my desk. Did the African Council not investigate my statement at all? Why was there no mention of that? John was right about one thing, I had approved the wedding and I wouldn’t be able to lie about it. John himself was a truth seeker and he would only have to ask me once to know what I did.I didn’t care much about the consequences at that point. I was too enraged and now I was more determined than ever to end this thing without having to send Malika back to Mauritius.I looked at my watch and typed my reply to him. Why waste the time when I knew that I wouldn’t change my mind? No matter how much I thought about it, I wouldn’t do it.“Dear John,I will not send Malika back to Mauritius. She is a free human, to go and do as she pleases. She also doesn’t want to return to Mauritius. If Vincent Pierre wants her so badly, he can come and get her himself, but he will have me to deal with if he sets foot in my territory and that goes for any other wolf t
I pushed the emails from John to the back of my mind, but it kept creeping up on me and I knew that at some point I’d have to make an effort to squash this thing before it became bigger. We hadn’t done anything wrong and I believed Malika when she said she never signed allegiance to Vincent.I sat down at my desk and opened the laptop. I only had one day left to answer John Whitcombe. I didn’t really have the diplomacy that Malachi had and I acted on my emotions much more than he did. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing, making emotional decisions often led to more trouble.I thought about how to correctly get my message across without being too forward about it. I hit the reply button on John’s email and started typing.“To Head Alpha John Whitcombe,I regret to inform you that Malika Luximon is not being harbored by me, unlawful or not, or the pack of Southern Alaska. Vincent Pierre is an idiotic, blubbering …”I laughed suddenly and hit the delete button. I couldn’t send that to Joh
“What now?” James looked quizzically at me. I had just told him my ideas about the email from John.“I’ll reply within five days, not that I see the point. I met Vincent and there’s no doubt in my mind that if Malika is sent back, he’ll kill her.”I sent a text to Robert and told him that they both needed to come to the house on urgent business. James and I walked back to the kitchen where Malachi stood near the counter tapping on his phone.“Everything okay?” I nodded at Adara and sat down at the table.“What did John want?” Malachi turned his attention to me and sat down across from me at the table.“A claim was lodged against me.”Malachi sat up straighter. “What claim?”“The new Alpha of Mauritius claims that I aided Malika in running from her Alpha and that I’ve been harboring her ever since.”“We should discuss this in detail. Do you want me to speak to John?” The look of worry in Malachi’s eyes worried me, but I wouldn’t back down.“No, Dad. Vincent doesn’t have a foot to stand
James lay on the ground and I had my legs around his neck. I squeezed slightly and James started tapping on the ground. I let go of him as he rolled to his knees and coughed twice. I saw Malachi by the tree line as I stood up. He was watching us.Malachi had an odd look on his face but I didn’t question him, he’d talk when and if he wanted to. I’d learned early on not to push Malachi. He was a very private person, even though we shared a lot, some things had to remain private.James was on his feet again fast and as I looked back at him from Malachi, I was too slow in blocking his kick. I spit the blood from my mouth and grinned at him where he danced like a boxer on his feet, laughing at me.He turned his head and looked at Malachi. “Do you want to cut in?”Malachi nodded, took his shirt off, and walked closer to me. He lifted his arms and I went into a boxing stance. I blinked as I lay flat on my back with James laughing so hard he struggled to breathe. Malachi’s face appeared above
“Hello, Malachi.” Adara’s voice was clear and she sounded happy even.“Jessica’s been vomiting the whole morning.”“Is she pregnant?” Malachi heard amusement in Adara’s voice but he ignored it.“She says it’s food poisoning.” Pregnancy was the first thing that had popped into his head when she threw up the first time.“I’ll phone her, don’t worry, Malachi.”Malachi parked his car in front of the court building and he pushed everything out of his mind and switched his phone off. He took his seat and opened his briefcase as his client joined him at the table. He breezed through the next few hours and finally got his client a settlement that he was happy with.Malachi sat in his car and switched his phone on again, surprised that Jessica hadn’t tried to contact him at all. An eerie feeling settled in his gut, a feeling he didn’t like at all. He opened his messages and started typing.Malachi: Are you okay?Jessica: Never better, stop worrying and stop frowning.Malachi laughed as he read
The conversation between Kiran and Malachi had kept replaying itself in his head. On one side he was relieved that Kiran accepted his relationship with Jessica because she was important to him but on the other side their age difference made him feel like an asshole.Malachi lay in her bed and watched her sleep. He smiled as he looked at her. A strong surge of love spread through him, so intense that it actually frightened him. He missed her every minute they were apart. He could never grow tired of her, but did she feel it as intensely as he did?Malachi knew that Jessica loved him but what kept him awake in the early morning hours was if she loved him enough to spend the rest of her life with him, to marry him and make a life with him.“You know that’s creepy, right?” Jessica’s voice was soft and her eyes were still closed.Malachi smiled. “What is?”Her eyes opened and softened as she looked at Malachi. “Watching me sleep.”“I made you coffee.” Jessica shifted and sat up straight, t